The History of Earwig

The beginning

Over a weekend in February 1992, the band slammed together a quick 5 song demo tape (Dead Slow Hoot) recorded to 1/2″ 8 track in McGee’s garage. The response was very promising, after sending the tape out blindly to zines and labels alike, he got calls back from mega labels such as 4AD and Capitol. oculus magazine > Earwig At this point Earwig was made up of Lizard McGee on guitars and vocals, Chuck Palmer on drums and bassist Jeff Perkins. The group was soon joined by Terry Lo on guitar and cello. The four-piece began playing shows as they worked on their debut CD. With the release of May feeder, Terry Lo and Jeff Perkins exited the band and Rich Cefalo joined on bass for the nationwide tour. They managed to survive the tour, however, and emerged a year later a much tighter and coherent trio.

Mayfeeder-Perfect Past Tense

In 1996 drummer Chuck Palmer left the band due to a re-occurring hand injury and was briefly replaced with Brad Swinarski, who played only two shows with Earwig before leaving the band due to other commitments. Brad had two recording sessions with the band resulting in 3 songs released. 1. A cover of ‘Do They Know It’s Christmas” released on the LFM Chris-single cassette. (very rare and hard to find), 2. Anatomical Gift and 3. Two Dragons…both appearing on Perfect Past Tense. In 1996, Justin Crooks, who was previously the drummer for LFM band Parsnip (a Columbus, high-school punk band which included now well know hip hop artist RjD2 on guitar. Parsnip released a 7” on LFM, also very, very rare), joined Earwig on drums. This trio of Rich Cefalo/Bass, Justin Crooks/Drums, Lizard/Gtr vocals recorded Perfect Past Tense with Steve Evans (also produced the Major Label debut of Thomas Jefferson Slave Apartments on American Records among others) and with producer Jared Kotler (producer of multi-planinum selling band Marcy Playground/Capitol Records among others) in Long Island, NY. The band toured the Midwest and east coast, eventually releasing a very limited , hand-pressed, early edition of Perfect Past Tense in late 1999 at a show in Columbus. Then Rich Cefalo moved to NYC (he went on to direct the music video for the song “The Horror”, the first single off of RjD2’s debut album ‘Deadringer’). Rich now plays in the NYC band ‘Estranged Estates’ with Chuck Palmer (who also moved to NYC in 2000) on drums.

Move to California

McGee moved to California in 2000 and released the widely available version of Perfect Past Tense on CD on LFM Records that same year. That same year he began running LFM Records completely on his own from California, increasing their distribution and recognition. Playing live in the Bay Area as a duo with drummer Raj Kapololu, Lizard also did 2 solo tours of the West Coast, playing shows from Seattle, to Phoenix, Arizona and Los Angeles. The duo of McGee/Kapololu also recorded several un-released demos at Avalon studios in San Jose, CA. McGee returned to Ohio and in 2004 teamed up with bassist Matt Wagner. Previously, when Rich Cefalo moved to NYC and was unavailable (but before he officially left the band in late 1999), Matt Wagner (of LFM Band Preston Furman) sat in with Earwig on the bass for one show in Athens, Ohio at Follett’s Bookstore. Matt also played bass during 1999 with the “LFM All-Stars” which included Justin Crooks on the drums, Brad Swinarski on keyboards and Lizard McGee on guitar and vocals. McGee and Wagner were joined by drummer Joshua Sheik for live shows in 2004/2005. In 2005 the band parted ways with Sheik and Justin Crooks once again took over drumming duties for Earwig.

Pixies Biography

With loads of enthusiasm and little musical experience, the Pixies roared out of the Boston garage rock scene to become one of the most influential alternative rock bands of the late ’80s and early ’90s. Their signature sound–Black Francis’s (a.k.a. Charles Thompson) maniacal screaming, Kim Deal’s sweet harmonies and Joey Santiago’s blitzkrieg riffing–became the blueprint for many bands to follow (Nirvana being a notable one) and proved to be an ideal antidote for the increasingly blasé pop music being churned out at the time.

Following fellow New Englanders Throwing Muses to the arty British 4AD label, the Pixies wasted little time or effort practicing. Instead they released Come On Pilgrim, a rapidly issued slab of eight demos (paid for by Francis’s father) featuring explosive guitars and propulsive, non-linear pop songs sung in both English and Spanish. The real coup, though, came with the band’s follow-up, Surfer Rosa, an outstanding work of unsettling guitar screech produced by Chicago noisemonger Steve Albini. It would be the album that made both Albini and the band, at least for the moment, legendary. Doolittle, the band’s third LP, expanded on the Pixies’ sound, with smoother production and more melodic pop smarts. Lulling tracks like “Here Comes Your Man” and “La La Love You” stand in stark contrast next to outrageous black rockers like “Debaser” and “Wave Of Mutilation.”

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE

1998 a band called “Jeff Killed John” formed in Bridgend. The bandmembers are Matt Tuck, Michael Paget, Michael Thomas and Nick Crandle. This band recorded several EPs like “You / Play With Me”, “Don’t Walk Away” and “Jeff Killed John”. After the last EP Nick Crandle left the band and was replaced by Jason James. After Jay joined the band they changed the name from JKJ into “Bullet For My Valentine”.

BULLET FOR MY VALENTINE
After renaming the band they started to record another demo. That new demo was called “Four Words To Choke Upon”. The song was about everyone who said that the band will never make it to a record deal. But after a little gig in London Roadrunner Records offered a deal which the band declined. But later they signed to Sony BMG. A deal for five albums.
The band started working on their first releases. In 2004 thei released their first record “Bullet For My Valentine”. For the US they later released the EP “Hand Of Blood” including a new track called “4 Words (To Choke Upon)”.
In 2005 the band started working on “The Poison” which was released in October 2005. After a big world tour Bullet played as the opening act for Metallica and Guns N’ Roses.
In 2006 they filmed their concert at the Brixton Academy. The same year it was released as a DVD. Japanese releases also included a CD of the concert. The next year Bullet had to cancel some concerts because Matt had some issues with his throat and wasn’t able to sing. But right after the doctors allowed him to sing again her was standing in the studio, singing for the next album “Scream Aim Fire”.

“Scream Aim Fire” was released in early 2008. It had a lot more metal influence than TP and Matt said that it is the album that gets them away from their emo image. After touring through Australia and North America the band flew back to support Jays daughter in hospital. Nearly after a year of the release of SAF the band released a deluxe version of it. Matt resung the vocals on all tracks and the band added 3 new and unreleased bonus tracks.
Right now the band finished recording their third, yet untitled, album. It will be released some time in 2010.

Eagles-Biography

1971 in California, Don Henley and Glenn Frey meet as members of Linda Ronstadt’s band. They realize they have a mutual goal – the formation of their own band – which is realized when teamed with Bernie Leadon and Randy Meisner by Ronstadt’s manager, John Boylan, as a projected backup band. Instead, the Eagles are formed.

Biography-Nickelback

Canada’s Nickelback started life as a cover band in Hanna, 215 kilometers northeast of Calgary. Eventually, they tired of playing other people’s songs and singer/guitarist Chad Kruger put together a bunch of original songs, borrowed 4,000 bucks off his stepfather, and went to big city Vancouver to record them in a friend’s studio. Based on the results, Kroger’s guitarist brother, Mike, and pal bassist Ryan Vikedal all relocated to Vancouver in 1996; that same year, they recorded and released the EP Hesher and full-length Curb independently and embarked on a series of cross-country tours. The group’s singer had spent two years selling advertising for a soccer magazine and now applied some of the skills he had learned to his band. He asked his friends to fax and phone radio stations to request their first single until it was played often enough for Nickelback to pick up fans on their own.

Nickelback – The Story Behind the Band

These days, if you look up Nickelback online, you’ll find plenty of places to download music videos and listen to the band. Their beginnings were less than auspicious, however. This Canadian band was started up by four musicians, Chad, Brandon and Mike Kroeger and Ryan Peake, in Alberta. Their first album was an extended play disc called Hesher in 1996. Later that same year, they released a full length album that basically flopped. The album, Curb, produced a single, “Fly”, that never made it to any charts and was circulated only in the local area on radio stations.

The Story Behind Linkin Park

Linking Park is a popular band, and hundreds, if not thousands, download music videos from the group every day. If you are one who loves to watch music videos of this group, take some time to learn a little more in-depth information about the group and its members.

Linking Park

Old-school hip-hop, traditional classic rock, and spooling electronic vibes were the initial factors behind the building of the alternative metal quintet, Linking Park. The band’s southern Californian musical roots were also an underlying basis, for drummer Rob Bourdon, guitarist Brad Delson, and MC/vocalist Mike Shinoda formed a tight friendship while still in high school. Shortly after graduation, art student and DJ Joseph Hahn hooked up with bassist Dave “Phoenix” Farrell and Shinoda for the band, Xero. Hybrid Theory came later, but the band opted on the name Linking Park when singer Chester Bennington was the last piece added to the band in 1999. Soon the band became a noticeable face at the Whisky as well as favorites in and around Los Angeles. Zomba Music’s Jeff Blue was one of the few who didn’t turn the band down for a contract at the turn of the millennium – Linking Park signed to Warner Bros. after being turned down three times in late 1999 and got to work on their debut album. Taking a piece from their past, they named the album Hybrid Theory. It was released in fall 2000 and it showcased their likes for fellow alternative acts such as the Def tones, the Roots, Apex Twin, and Nine Inch Nails. The Dust Brothers also collaborated on the record, as well as producer Don Gilmore (Pearl Jam, Eve 6, Tracy Bonham). Singles such as “Crawling” and “One Step Closer” were massive radio hits and video favorites among the TRL crowd on MTV. Joint tours with Family Values and the Project: Revolution Tour with Cypress Hill led the band to play 324 shows in 2001. Linking Park was in demand. Come January 2002, Hybrid Theory received three Grammy nominations for “Best Rock Album” and “Best New Artist.” A month later, Linking Park walked away with an award for “Best Hard Rock Performance” for “Crawling.” They spent the remainder of the year hold up in the studio, again working with Gilmore, recording a follow-up to their eight times platinum debut Hybrid Theory.

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